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C. A. MAYRHOFBR. ELECTRIC ENEUMATIG CLOCK SYSTEM.

Patented Jan. 6,1885.

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0.-A. MAYRHDFE'R.

ELECTRIC PNEUMATIC CLOCK SYSTEM. No. 310,530. Patented Jan.6,1885.

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' ELECTRIC PNEUMATIC CLOCK SYSTEM.

No. -310,530. I Patented Jan. 6,1885.

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ELECTRIC PNEUMATIC CLOCK SYSTEM. No. 310,530. Patented Jan. 6, 1885.

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7 Sheets-Sheet 6. C. A. MAYRHOPER- ELECTRIC PNBU'MATIC CLOCK SYSTEM.

No. 310,530. PatentedrJan. 6, 1885.

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C. A. MAYRHOFER.

ELECTRIC PNEUMATIC CLOCK SYSTEM.

No. 310,530. Patented Jan. 6 1885.

'UNITED STATES CHARLES ALBERT llIAYItHOEER, 0F VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY,

ASSIGNOR OF OEE-HALF TO CARL DIENER, GE SAME PLACE.

ELECTRlC PNEUilf'lA'l'lC-CLOGE-7 SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,530, dated January6, 1885.

Application filed March 19. 1884.

(No model.) Patented in France December 3l, 1583, No. 150,481 in BelgiumDecember 8l, 18S No. 63,721; in Italy December' 3l, 1883, XVII, 16,273,and XXXII, 34T;

in Germany January 1, 1884, No. 23,387; in England Jan uar 1,1SS4,N0.1.GS1 in Spain June 9 1881, No. 5,662, and in Austria-Il'ungaryOctober l0, 1834, No. T70 and No. 46,758.

.Y y i V To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Crmnrns ALBERT )Livia- IYIOFER, a subject ofAustria-Hungary, residing at Vienna, in the Province of Nether Austria,in the Empire of AustriaHuugary, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electrical Pneumatic Clocks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or tigures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this speciiication.

The object of this invention is to provide means by which any number ofclocks connected together by hydropneumatic means may be wound andcorrectly set every time an electric circuit is closed by a central orstandard clock. For this purpose each time the electric circuit isclosedby the centra-l or standard clock a liquid under pressure is madeto compress a quantity of air and wind up and set all the secondaryclocks in the entire system. I accomplish this by first making anelectric circuit open or close valves in pipes containing` liquid underpressure, and, secl ondly, the liquid in its turn compresses air andoperates the mechanism to produce the result required. The clocks inthis system may be of any desired construction-that is, any of thewell-known sell'acting clocks in common use.

I will now proceed to describe my invention, referring to the drawingsforming part of this application, in which the same letters et referenceindicate the same parts in the drawings.

Figure l is a diagram illustrating a standard or central clock andsecondary clock with the electric hydropneumatic means for controllingsaid secondary clocks, which will be hereinafter fully explained. Eig. 2is a per spective view ot' an electric magnet with appliances foropening valves and setting the liquid in motion. Fig. 3 is a like viewof the valves and cock regulator for governing the lievi of the liquid.Fig. 4t shows the two aircompressing chambers with their connections.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my safety devices by which the liquid isprevented from en` tering into the air-pipes in case of accident or ott`e r disturbances. Fig. G is a perspective view of mechanism ierrestoring the electric magnet and the valve-regulator t'o their normalposition. Eig. 'T shows a box containing a counting` or indicatingmechanism and means for operating it. Eig. S represents the rear of aclock having both the appliances for sending a current of electricity tothe line andthe 6o means for winding and setting the secondary or lineclocks.

From cach central station any number of secondary clocks maybecontrolled and wound up. The standard clock at the central station 6 5may itself be controlled by any other standard clock (as i'rom anastronomical observatory) by electric hydrostatic and pneumatic means;or it may be even itself controlled by one of the line-clocks.

For the sake of convenience I have shown in the diagram in Figs. l and Sa clock which has both the circuit-closers of the central clock andmeans for sending an electricimpulse out on the line and devices forwinding and setting the secondary or line clocks.

Commencing with the central clock, I will now describe my system.

Q is the central-clock mechanism or stand ard time-piece, the center orminute arbor of 8o which has a contact-wheel, E, and a spurwheel, q,rigidly fastened to it and meshing with a pinion, QQ attached to anothercontact wheel or disk, It, which is calculated to make eight rotationsto one of wheel R. rIhese 85 wheels are made of metal or conductivemateria-l, and are provided with bosses or projections r r'. llfhenthese wheels are set in motion bythe clock iinechanisni, the said bossesor projections make contacts simultaneously at 9o certain intervals withthe central spring, S and S, and close the electric circuit through thetrain of wheels, wire w', plate 3 of switchboard V, crossq'ilatc S,connected to plate 3 by a switclrpin, thence by wire IY, thence toelectro -magnet B through circuit I3 and IL in the safety devices, (tobe hereinafter fully described,) thence back through the switchboard V,by plates 9 and 4, and wire tot", local battery K, and wire ai, tocontact S of the standard or central clock.

It is obvious that, instead of having a local circuit such as abovedescribed, a main-line circuit can be used.

In the diagram Fig. l, I show a main-line wire, rv, leading to pointXV', thence through the lightningarrester IV, wire w', plates 6 and 8 ofthe switch-board, wire wg, through the eircuit-breaker I:S and IL andelectro-magnet I3, thence back through wire wf, plates g and 5, wire x2,thence through the lightningarrester to mainline "When the electriccircuit is closed through eontact-points S S of the central or standardclock, the electromagnet I3 (see Fig. 2) is energized and attracts itsarmature b, fastened to shaft b2 by arm b", causing the shaft to turnslightly and carry the arm b5,also attached to said shaft b2, backward.This arm b5 has a lug or support, b, upon which normally rests the endof lever C, and when the lug b" is turned backward the end of lever C isallowed to drop down. The lever C is pivoted upon an upright, c, and atits fulcrum end is provided with a reenforcement, c', upon which rests apin, c?, adjustabl y fastened to the end of lever-arm ci", which latteris free to turn on the bearing d. Then the lever C drops down, the arm cfalls off the pin c2 by the help of a weight (not shown) hanging on rodc. The said arm ci" is fastened to the beam D by means of the slottedsegment d and set-screw dt. The weight on rod c causes the beam D tooscillate and carry with d the weight d to the position shown in dottedlines, Fig. 2. The slotted segment d and set-serew d2 allow the anglebetween arm cis and weight d to be regulated at pleasure. The said beamD bears segments at both ends, and is provided with projecting pins c cc c, by means of which the arms c'Z and e", fastened to the plugs of thevalve-cocks D and DE, are moved into the position shown,or into theposition indicated by dotted lines, in order to open one of thevalve-cocks and close the other. The upper parts of these valve-cocksare connected together by a curved pipe, D, and the lower part ofvalve-cock D communicates by means of a pipe, y, with the main conduit Yof a city or other water-su pply, and cock D2 connects by means ot' pipeg/ with exit-main Y of said city water-supply. The curved pipe D is alsoconnected with another branch pipe, D",whichleads to the valve-cockregulator, Fig. 3. Vhen the lever C falls down-that is to say, everytime the electric circuit is closed by the central cloek--the valve-cockD is opened, valve D2 is closed. In consequence of this the water orother liquid flows from the conduit Y or main supply through pipe g/ andvalve-cock D into the curved pipe D", thence through branch pipe DL intovalve-cock E, Fig. 3,which in its no1 mal position is open. Thisvalve-cockis conneeted by means of pipe f with a cylinder, F, whosepiston bears a rack, F. The liquid entering the said cylinder raises thepiston and rack and partially rotates the pinion F`, which has two setsof gears, and which meshes with the teeth of sector f, fastened to theplug ot' valve-cock FJ, and turns down said sector, and at the same timeturns upward the sector j, fastened on valve-cock El. In this mannervalve-cock F] is opened and valvecock E" is closed. with a flange ordisk, and guides the rack F. A small roller, gi, bearing on the rear ofthe segment, also acts as a guide for the said rack. Ey the lowering ot'the toothed sector /",which is provided with pins or tappets /`"j',thearm j", fastened on the plug of the valve-cock l, is forced downwardand the valve-eock E" is closed. Vheu the sector is raised, the saidcock is opened.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, valve-cock E stands closed and val vecoeks lflau d E stan d open. If, now, the liquid enters cylinder F, it raises therack F', which opens valve-cock t and closes El, and then the liquidflows from the conduit Y or main supply into the pipe y', and fromthence by branched pipe and stop-cocks 7L h into the air-chambers GV (i,as shown in Fig. ff. This compresses the air therein contained andforces it through if It and valve-cocks 71"' h into pipe The twoair-chambers are not ordinarily needed, but are both used when one isnot sufficient to perform the labor of winding-and .setting all thesecondary cocks 71," /t and siq'iply-valves. 'l1/l is a manometer, and71, h are gageglasses. Before this compressed airisallowed to act uponthe secondary clocks it passes through what I term a safety appanatus.7(Best shown in Fig. 5.)

As before stated, pipe .o conducts the compressed ai r from theair-compressors and con- Veys it into the cylinder Ii ef the said safetyapparatus, from which it passes through the air-pipe c, thatcommunicates with the secondary clocks. The cylinder K contains a fioat,IC, that does not prevent nor hinder the passage of the air, but it israised whenever liquid or water enters cylinder Ii. The float Iig has anupright rod that passes through a small stuffing-box, and is provided atits top with a button, Iii". It' the `float K2 is raised, button Iivraises one end of lever K, fastened to the shaft 7.', and partiallyturns it. The arm s, also fastened to shaft 7.:, has a lug,whieh holdswheel i from rotation by pin t, resting on said lug. The partial turningof the shaft 7a releases the pin t from end of the path of the lug, andthe wheel 'i is rotated by the weight fi'2 and cord t" in the directionof the arrow. The arbor of wheel i carries a pinion, I2, which gearswith the sector I, fastened to the plug of valve-cock Il. By the turningof the wheel and pinion I the sector is raised The pinion F" is providedi ICO IIC

ISO

and the valvecock is closed and stops the flow of liquid from the mainsupply.

In order to indicate disturbances or accidents at the central-clockstation, an electriccircnit breaker is placed in the path ot' thesector. This consists of two metallic springarms, F and l",which arenormally in contact. The spring-arm l* is longer than the spring arm l,and as 'the sector l is moved up it strikes the arm Il and separates thecontact'- points, breaking the circuit, which has been before described.This interruption may be made visible at the central station in anywellknown manner.

Any disturbances in working caused by lack of water may be indicated atthe central-clock station. A small pipe, Z, leads from the conduit Y tothe cylinderl L, the piston of which is maintained in an elevatedposition as long as the pressure of liquid or water is not interrupted.If leaks occur in conduit Y, the weight L on the pistonvrod will pressdown upon the opposite end of the lever l and operate the safetyapparatus in the same manner before described.

In Fig. 3 is also shown a trough, 3l, having in its center a hollowed orreceiver recesst, which contains a iloat, ML. The purpose of this deviceis to cut oit' the water-supply in case ofthe breakage of a pipe,gage-glass,&c. This float M2 bears an upright rod, in., proA vided atits lower end with a collar, oa. lf the water rises in the receiver lil,the float is raised and collar m lifts the slotted end of lever mi andcloses the valve-cock M of the main conduitY, and at the saine time theupper end ot' rod m raises lever l and closes valve cock I and breaksthe electric circuit, as before set forth.

It is seen from the foregoing that il the central cock is arranged tomake and break an electric circuit at regular intervals ot' time acurrent of water orliquid will flow atthe same intervals and compressthe airin the cylinder, and force it to wind and set the secondary orline clocks. To produce this effect several valve-cocks are opened andclosed and several levers and weights are brought into operation. Inorder to restore all these parts to their normal position after theyhave been so operated the line air-pipe c is connected to what l' term areverser l (see Fig. t3) by means of a branch pipe, z. This branch pipeleads to the air-cylinder N. As long as the pressure of air in theline-pipes is not sufficient to raise the piston N', with its weight Ni,the piston will remain on the bottom ofthe cylinder; but as soon as thepressure is great enough to raise said piston and its weight the arm a,connected to said weight, as shown, will lift one end of the lever ai,fastened to the plug of valve-cock Of, by means of which the valve-cockis opened and the compressed air flows through it to another branchpipe, z2, leading to air-cylinder E, Fig. 2, raising a piston or weightcontained therein with rod c, which latter being loosely attached tothelever-arm c, it is also raised and turns the beam D and restores it andlever Q to their normal position, ready for action when the centralclock again closes the circuit. The spring attached toa lug on shaft Zrdraws back arm b, andthe support b again rests thereon. lt is obviousthat valve-cock D is closed by this restoring movement. The valvecocknow being open, the water contained in cylinder F ofthe valve-cockregulator, Fig. S, will be discharged throughf, E, and D, and valve-cockDi to exit-pipe Y by means of a weight hung at g on the sectorfi, whichforces down the rack F and its piston.

ln order to indicate the number of times that the circuit has beenclosed by the central or standard clock, a registering or countingmechanism is connected to the branch airpipe c. The compressed air,entering the cylinder P, lifts a piston which operates said register.This register may be of any well-known construction. The air compressedas has been described passes through the air-pipcs and any other branchpipes to the secondary or line clocks, for the purpose ol" winding andsetting' them.

For the sake of convenience I have shown the mechanism for performingthese functions ttaelied to the central clock, as l have before stated;but in practice these devices are attached to the secondary or lineclocks. Every time the circuit is closed by the central clock compressedair is forced into the cylinder U ct'l cach line or secondary clock andraises rod l?, and with it the end of the windingdever T, connec ed tosaid rod. Said leverisfulcrumed at its other end on the winding-arbor sof the clock. ik pawl, t', is attached to thc lever T, and as the leveris raised the pawl, takinginto the teeth of the ratchetwheel t, windsthe clock in the direction ofthe arrow, but bcfore this is done thesetting mechanism is operated, which I will first describe. The lever Thas at about its center a pin, il, projecting inwardly, that moves thesetting-lever Tto one side to set the hands ot' the clock. This leverhas at its upper' end forksliaped projections t. A crank-arm is fastenedto the minute-hand arbor, and has a projecting pin, nl, and rotates withsaid arbor. if the clock should gain or lose a few minutes in a day, itis set correctlyv by the arm T/ being forced toward the minute-handarbor, the arm ai being brought to zero, or correct time, bythe forkedprojections moving against said arm, and thereby setting the minutehaudforward or backward, as the ease may be, vto the correct time, or toagree with the central clock. ln order to set these clocks quickly andiertainly and avoid stopping, means are employed to operate the lever Trapidly. To effect this the lever is constructed with a bent or inclinedportion, asshown inthe drawings, Fig. 5. A spring, c, having aprojection, e', is lhastened on the side of the lever T. Then IOC IIO

the lever T is raised by the force of the air in the cylinder U, the pinu pushes up on the inclined projection fr', forcing the lever T and itsfork t3 inward, as above described. When it has passed the upper part oft-he projection o, itis forced back to its normal position by the springo2, as seen. Until this is accomplished the winding of the clock is notcommenced, as a small pin, c, is fastened to the back plate ofthe clockin such a position that the pawl t on lever T is kept out of contactwith the teeth of the ratchet wheel t while the lever T is down anduntil the pin u passes the incline c. The pawl t is then released, and,taking into the ratchet-teeth, winds the clock to thc upward limit ofmovc ment of lever T. A small spring (not shown in the drawings)controls the pawl t. The

'clocks are therefore only partially wound every time the electriccircuitis closed by the central clock through the hydraulic pneumaticmeans which I have described. NVhen wheels R and It are set-in motion,the bosses?l r make contacts simultaneously at certain intervals withthe springs S and S', and close the electric circuit through the trainof gearing, wire w, plate 3 of switch-board c, connected with plate S bya switch-pin, thence by wires 102 to electro-magnet B, through circuit ll, thenceA back through the switch board V by plates `9 and 4, and wire105, local battery X, and wire a, to contact S of standard centralclock. Vhen the electric circuit is thus closed through the points S S',the electro-magnet B (see Fig. 2) is energized and attracts armaturesfastened to shaft I)2 by arm b, causing the shalt to turn slightly andcarry the arm b5, attached to said shaft, backward. This allows thelever C to drop and permits the arm ci5 to `fall off the pin c. Thiscauses the beam D to oseillate and carry with it the weight d to theposition shown in dotted linrs in Fig. 2. lVhen the lever C fallsthat isto say, every time the circuit is closed by the central clock-the valvecock D' is opened and valve D2 is closed, and the water flows fromconduit T through pipe j and valve cock D' into the curved pipe D,thence through branch pipe D* into valvecock E, Fig. 3, which in itsnormal position is open. The liquid then enters cylinder F, raises thepiston and rack, and partially rotates the pinion F3, and through theintermediate gearing turns down the sector j", opening the cock ll andclosing cock E. rThis compresses the air contained therein and forces itthrough h2 lr and valve-cocks hfhf" into pipe The compressed air thenpasses through the safety device H, and from thence through pipe fj tothe secondary clocks. Vhen the pressure becomes great enough to raisethe piston N', with its weight N2, the arm z, connected to saidweight,will lift one end of the lever ai, fastened to the plug ofvalveting the compressed air to i'low through it au d branch pipe .ai toair-cylinder E, Fig. 2, raising the piston or weight contained thereinwith rod e, which lifts the lever-arm c3, turns the beam D, and restoresit and lever C to their normal position, ready for action when thecentral clock again closes the circuit.

Having thus :leseribed my invention, what l claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

l. The combination, with the center or minute arbor of a central clockor standard timepiece, of a contact-wheel and spur-wheel rig idlyfastened thereto, a similar contact-wheel having a pinion meshing withthe spur-wheel, and the contact-springs S and S', the contactwheelsbeing provided with bosses adapted to make contact at proper intervalswith the contactsprings to close the electric circuit, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination, with the central clock and its contact-wheels andgearing and the contactfspring and plates, of the switch-board connectedto the said plates by means of suitable cond actors, aline connectingwith an elcctro-magnet` and the hydropneumatic devices operated by saidmagnet, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the electro-magnet and its armature and thewater supply and discharge pipes and their valves, of the mechanism,substantially as described, whereby said valves are alternately openedand closed by the electrical impulses established by the makes andbreaks at the central clock, substantially as specified.

et. The combination, with the electromagnet and its armature and thelever to which said armature is attached, (the lever resting against theend of the same,) the pivoted arm operated by said lever, and itsweighted rod, ofthe adjustable beam having segments at its end, theweighted oscillating lever, and the alternately opening and closingvalve-cocks operated by projections on the segments of the adj ustablebeam, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the weighted pulley f1', its pinion, andthesegment l', operating the valve-plug ofthe valve l, thelever l, engaginga lug.l fi, on the pulley, the lever K, mounted on the fulcrum-shaft lf,the float K2, located in a well, 7.x', and having a rod provided withabutton, l, at its uppper end, setting under the free end of the leverli, to operate the same and release the wheel i, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

6. The combination, with the lever K, the wheel fi, and valve-operatingsegment l2, ofthe iloat M2, located in a well, M, the `float-rod on,having a collar, mi, and the valve-lever m3, for automatically openingand closing the valve Mi", substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with the lever K, the weight L, and the cylinder L,ofthe float K" and float-rod Ki", whereby the lever Kis actuated torelease the wheel fifi, substantially as described.

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S. The combination, with the segment I and its actuating mechanism, ofthe ci rcnit-breaker connected by suitable conductors with the centralclock, whereby interruptions or breakages in the hydraulic devices areindicated, substantially as specified.

9. The combination, with the segments fgf, of the pinion F2, pulley g2,the rack F and piston, the cylinder F and pipe j", valve E and pipe Dt,and the valves E and E and connecting-pipe y, all arranged to operatesubstantially as specilied.

10. The combination, with the clock-regulating devices, of thereservoirs G and the connecting-pipes y, p, and 7L, and the cylinder K,connecting with said reservoir by means of a pipe, z, and with theregulating mechanism, substantially as specified.

ll. The combination, with the cylinder E, ot' the pipe z2, valve O', thevalve-arm if, bent arm n, having a slot through which said valvearmextends, the Weight N2, having a pistonrod and piston, and the cylinderN, connect ing with the pipe e@ substantially as and for the purposesspeciiied.

12. The combination, with the pipes, of the cylinder l) and its piston,and the levers, paivl and ratchet, and registering` mechanism wherebythe number of impulses established by the central clock may beregistered, substantially as specitied.

13. The combination, with the cylinder U, connected to the pipe c, andthe piston-rod It, of the lever T, having a lug, a, and the bent leverT, having an inclined bearing, c', against which the lug Works, and thelingers t", adapted to engage the crank-arm a, and the spring o2,bearing against said lever to hold and re` turn it to normal position,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

let. The combination, with the lever T and its actuating mechanism, ot'the ratchet t, sc-

cnrcd to the darling-shaft S, and the pawl et, the setting mechanism,and mechanism for holding the said pawl from the ratchet-teeth duringthe setting oi" the clock, substantially as specified.

15. The conibination, in an electro-hydro` pnenmaticclocl; system, witha standard o1' central clock and a series of secondary or controlledclocks, ol" a reversing apparatus, Substantiall y as described, forreturning the valves and levers to their normal position after eachact-nation et the circuit, substantially as described.

lo'. rEhe combination, in an electro-pncumatic-clock system, with astandard clock and a series ot secondary or controlled clocks, of safetydevice and gearing operated thereby, substantially as described, forgiving a warning signal when an accident has occurred in any of thecircuits, substantially as set forth.

17. rIhe combination, with means for \vinding and setting a series ofclocks, substantially as set forth, ot' devices consisting of areservoir connected tothe air-pipe, and having a weighted pistonoperating, substantially as described, for returning the valves andlevers to their normal position', as set forth.

18. The combination, substantially as hereinbctbre set forth, withmeans, as described, for controlling a series of secondary clocks, ordevices for closing the Water-supply in case of accident, the sameconsisting of a trough having a tloat and tloat-rod, which actuates alever to close the water-supply cock, snbstair tially as set forth.

In testimony whereofI l atiix my signaturein presence ot two witnesses.

CHARLES ALBERT lllAYRllOFER.

"\`\f`itnesses: Y

barns RLLEY XVnAvuin Hnxnr lnvms.

